Congratulations to Trevor Immelman first off. I am a huge fan of guys in their twenties winning major championships, especially when Tiger Woods is at least in the hunt. I think golf is to the point where it has its dominant figure, but now it needs young challengers to step up and knock him down so it doesn’t get common place to have Woods winning without a fight. This article however isn’t about who wins or loses, but more about how the powers at Augusta have seemingly changed what made this the best tournament in the world.
As a 34 year old my first real memory of the Masters is Jack Nicklaus shooting 30 on the back nine in 1986 to charge from behind to win. Next up for me is Nick Faldo shooting 65 in the final round in 1989 to come from behind and beat Scott Hoch in a playoff. After that it is Tiger Woods making history in 1997 in every way imaginable. When Mark O’Meara won in 1998, he was at even par after Friday and shot 9 under on the weekend to win. Sadly, it looks like those days are over.
I’m sure they won’t call me for my opinion, but they have taken away what made this tournament great. As a kid I was drawn to golf by watching the Masters and the drama that almost always unfolded on the weekend at Augusta. The back nine on Sunday was when the tournament really got going because anyone within five shots was still in the hunt due to the opportunity to make eagles and birdies on holes 13-17. If we fast forward from 1986 to this past Sunday and put Nicklaus on the tenth tee five shots back, could he shoot the necessary score on Sunday to win? Not on this golf course today he couldn’t. Will the average kid look back one day and say that watching these last two Masters tournaments drew them to the game? It might get a few, but the drama of Sunday at the Masters has certainly been changed for the worse in my opinion.
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